[No.  46. — Second  Series,  2500.] 


Indian  Rights  Association, 

1305  Arch  Street, 

Philadelphia,  Pa.,  June  i,  1898. 

ANSWERS  TO  CHARGES  MADE  AGAINST  WM.  N. 
H AILMANN,  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  INDIAN 
SCHOOLS,  SUBMITTING  QUOTATIONS  FROM  HIS 
WRITINGS,  ETC. 


The  efforts  of  Dr.  flailmann’s  enemies  to  procure  his  removal 
from  the  office  of  Superintendent  of  Indian  Schools  have  been 
renewed  recently  with  fresh  vigor. 

In  searching  for  the  grounds  on  which  this  movement  is  based, 
we  have  discovered  that  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  prejudice 
Dr.  Hailmann’s  superior  officers,  as  well  as  the  general  public, 
against  him  by  representations  that  he  is  an  irreligious  man  and 
is  conducting  the  Indian  School  service  upon  an  irreligious  basis. 

To  the  true  American,  who  rejoices  that  he  may  worship  the 
Deity  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  conscience,  this  attack 
will  be  a  source  of  surprise  and  grief ;  but  when  it  is  sought  to 
mislead  those  who  might  hold  adverse  opinions  upon  doctrinal 
points  it  should  be  severely  censured. 

Any  one  acquainted  with  Dr.  Hailmann  knows  how  foreign  to 
his  nature  it  is  to  render  himself  obnoxious  by  parading  his 
religious  beliefs  to  those  associated  with  him  officially  or  to  the 
public. 

We  do  not  know,  nor  does  it  matter,  what  Dr.  Hailmann’s 
religious  views  were  in  his  youth,  nor  to  what  particular  religious 
denomination  he  has  since  allied  himself.  We  deem  it  right  and 
proper,  however,  under  the  circumstances,  to  quote  from  his  pub¬ 
lished  works  covering  a  period  of  many  years,  to  show  that  he  is 
imbued  with  deep  religious  sentiments  : 

From  the  Indiana  School  Journal ,  January,  1887  : 

“Should  Religion  be  Taught  in  the  Public  Schools,  and  Why? 

“  If  by  religion  you  mean  ‘  the  desire  to  raise  into  clear  knowl¬ 
edge  that  primarily  the  spiritual  self  of  man  is  one  with  God,  to 
be  in  this  unity  with  God  thereby  established,  and  to  continue 
to  live  in  this  unity  with  God  in  every  condition  and  relation  of 
life,’  I  shall  without  hesitation  answer  in  the  affirmative,  inas- 

1 


2 


fc. 

93 

.  X  H  3  . 

S.n  d  • 

05  • 

much  as  this  is  needed  to  give  meaning,  value,  and  permanence 
to  the  work  of  the  school. 

“If,  on  the  other  hand,  religion  is  to  you  a  quasi-philosophic 
system  of  definitions  or  a  man-made  creed  by  which  you  hope  to 
raise  yourself  above  your  fellow-beings  and  to  escape  the  just 
consequences  of  evil-doing ;  if  it  means  to  you  rebellion  against 
God-given  reason,  the  subversion  of  the  child-like  faith  in  truth 
and  justice  that  fills  every  God-born  soul,  the  effacement  of  all 
vestiges  of  Christly  love  to  mankind  in  your  heart, — a  love  that 
measures  its  intensity  by  the  wretchedness  of  erring  or  needy 
brother  or  sister;  if  it  means  to  you  some  particular  kind  of 
theology  or  some  particular  form  of  fanciful,  morbid  or  selfish 
interpretation  of  the  Word  of  God,  I  shall  with  equal  prompt¬ 
ness  answer  in  the  negative  ;  for  the  teaching  of  these  things 
turns  the  young  away  from  God,  with  whom  primarily  they  are 
one,  estranges  them  from  Christ,  through  whom  they  are  in  this 
unity,  and  renders  them  hostile  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  whom 
alone  they  may  hope  to  continue  in  this  unity. 

“  In  its  deep,  generous  sense,  as  the  thirst  for  God  and  right¬ 
eousness,  as  the  yearning  for  Christ  and  love,  as  consecration  to 
the  spirit  of  truth ;  as  the  unfailing  fountain  of  faith  and  hope, 
of  reverence  for  things  good  and  holy,  and,  greatest  of  all,  of 
heaven-born  charity ;  as  the  blessed  bond  between  man  and 
humanity,  nature,  God ;  as  the  ever-progressing,  ever-present 
tendency  outward  and  upward,  religion  is  the  rock  on  which 
alone  education  can  rest  securely,  is  the  soul  without  which  edu¬ 
cational  influences  are  dead,  is  the  very  life  of  whatever  home 
and  school  may  do  in  child-guidance. 

“  Do  you  say  the  public  school  is  concerned  only  with  good 
citizenship  ? 

“In  a  commonwealth  like  ours,  based  on  ethical  considera¬ 
tions,  a  good  citizen  must  first  be  a  good  man  or  woman ;  and 
the  goodness  of  the  human  being  rises  and  falls  with  the  intens¬ 
ity  and  scope,  the  depth  and  breadth  of  his  religious  convictions. 
Whoever  truly  feels  his  essential  oneness  with  God  and  man  can¬ 
not  fail  to  appreciate  his  responsibility  as  a  member  of  the  com¬ 
monwealth,  and  must  be  proportionately  eager  to  do  his  duty  as 
such. 

“  That  there  is  need  for  such  religious  training  perhaps  not 
only  in  our  schools,  but  possibly  also  in  the  family  and  in  the 
church,  must  be  manifest  to  every  thoughtful  observer  of  public 
and  private  affairs. 

“  Everywhere  we  see  the  same  irreligious  tendency  of  isolation, 
a  malevolent  greed  to  make  all  things  mine.  The  monopolist 
and  the  trades-unionist,  the  grasping  merchant  and  the  miserly 
customer,  the  cunning  manufacturer  and  the  stupid  consumer, 
the  partisan  in  office  and  the  partisan  out  of  office,  the  princely 
millionaire  and  the  beggarly  tramp,  Sing-Sing  and  Canada, 


MAR  1  0  2000 


3 


Newport  and  the  county  farm,  all  preach  alike  of  the  baneful 
fruits  of  an  irreligious  system  of  isolation  which  has  overtaken 
us  under  the  heathen  ‘  Look  out  for  number  one  ’  and  ‘  Charity 
begins  at  home  ’  fallacies. 

“There  are  all  about  growing  currents  of  philanthropy  and 
Christian  charity — individual  and  associated — laboring  to  make 
headway  against  the  evils  and  to  mitigate  the  suffering  resulting 
from  this  state  of  affairs. 

“These  currents,  indeed,  furnish  convincing  proof  of  the  in¬ 
corruptible  fountain  of  life  that  wells  up  deep  in  the  innermost 
heart  of  humanity ;  yet,  few  of  these  efforts  strike  the  root. 
Indeed  nothing  short  of  a  thorough-going  revolution  in  popular 
education,  making  religious  training  the  cornerstone  of  the  pub¬ 
lic  school  work,  can  reach  the  root ;  a  religious  training  which, 
while  it  steers  clear  of  theology,  leads  the  child  to  unity  with 
God;  a  religious  training  which,  while  it  serves  no  particular 
creed,  awakens  in  the  soul  of  every  learner  conscious  faith  in  the 
eternal  power  of  righteousness;  a  religious  training  which,  while 
it  favors  no  ‘  denomination, ’  opens  the  heart  of  every  pupil  to 
Christly  love  and  inwardness;  a  religious  training  which,  while 
it  is  free  from  special  ritualistic  tendencies,  attunes  the  mind  to 
reverence  for  things  high  and  low  ;  a  religious  training  which, 
while  it  calls  neither  for  tithes  or  alms,  fosters  in  the  young  a 
spirit  of  cheerful  self-renunciation  without  which  obedience  to  the 
law  of  God  and  man  becomes  a  mere  matter  of  expediency. 

“It  is  needless  to  add  that  this  does  not  contemplate  the  ad¬ 
dition  of  a  new  Subject  of  instruction,’  but  rather  and  exclusively 
the  spiritualizing  of  all  school  work.  However,  your  question 
does  not  concern  the  ‘  how,’  and  I  desist. 

“  W.  N.  Hailmann, 

“  Supt.  La  Porte  Schools .” 

Extract  from  the  Preface  to  the  Translation  of  “Froebel’s 
Education  of  Man,”  by  W.  N.  Hailmann,  1887. 

“  •  •  *  It  would  be  a  most  grateful  task  to  present  in  this 

preface  a  succinct  review  of  Froebel’s  great  plan  of  education  ; 
to  show  it  in  its  complete  unity  and  perfect  harmony ;  to  sketch 
how  he  receives  the  almost  unconscious  child  from  the  hands  of 
the  Eternal  and  leads  him  surely  and  persistently  to  eager,  con¬ 
scious  unity  with  the  infinite  source  of  life  and  being;  how  in 
earliest  childhood  he  kindles  the  religious  sense — the  sense  of 
complete,  all-sided,  responsible  kinship  with  all  created  things — 
and  gently  fans  it  into  a  mighty  blaze  of  universal  good-will ; 
how  skillfully  he  enables  the  child  to  gather  golden  harvests  of 
knowledge  and  skill  from  the  burdened  fields  of  experience  and 
life,  and  again  to  sow  these  in  an  intensely  creative  life  of  un¬ 
wearied,  vigorous  well-doing  for  the  sustenance  and  uplifting  of 
generations  to  come  ;  how  completely  he  blends  in  the  bosom  of 


4 


a  holy  family  the  interests  of  the  individual,  of  fellow-men,  of 
mankind,  and  leads  all  to  an  ever-creative  worship  of  an  ever- 
creative  God ;  how  he  imparts  to  his  pupils  a  thorough  know¬ 
ledge  of  the  inner  connection  and  oneness  of  all  things,  and 
enables  them  to  control  and  handle  in  life  and  for  life  all  they 
know  of  life  ;  how,  thus,  he  fills  them  with  an  eager  thirst  for 
ever  wider  and  higher  knowledge  and  with  a  holy  hunger  for  ever 
broader  and  deeper  efficiency  in  whatever  practical  calling  may 
be  theirs ;  and  how,  by  showing  the  intrinsic  importance  and 
indispensableness  of  every  calling  and  occupation,  he  plants  in 
every  human  being  the  feeling  that  on  his  efficiency  depends  the 
welfare  of  the  whole,  a  sense  of  inner,  responsible  manhood  which 
is  the  measure  of  true  worth  in  every  station  of  life,  a  practical, 
real  Christianity  that  holds  every  hpman  being  as  a  beloved 
manifestation  of  the  Man,  equally  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father.’ ’ 

Extract  from  the  Introduction  to  “Sketches  from  the  History 
of  Education,”  by  W.  N.  Hailmann,  June,  1891, 

“  On  the  other  hand,  Egypt  presents  points  of  real 

interest.  This  land  of  mysteries  occupies  a  peculiar  place  in  the 
development  of  occidental  civilization.  It  is  the  birth-place  of 
the  sphynx,  which  ‘symbolizes  the  triumph  of  spirituality  over 
sensuous  naturalism.’ 

“  Here  were  formulated  the  questions  that  have  shaken  the  soul 
of  man  to  its  innermost.  On  the  nether,  earthward,  human  side 
of  life  these  questions  were  solved  by  Greece  and  Rome ,  on  the 
upper,  heavenward,  divine  side  they  were  solved  by  Israel,  the 
wonder  of  the  world,  which  gave  us,  too,  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 
the  God-Man,  through  whom  and  in  whom  the  two  solutions 
were  rescued  from  a  fatal  one-sidedness  and  united  in  the 
living  bonds  of  a  law  of  love  that  knows  not  the  limits  of  kin¬ 
ship,  and  the  ravages  of  time. 

“  It  is  in  the  history  of  these  nations  that  the  educator  will  find 
his  first  rich  harvest  of  facts  and  principles,  of  tendencies  and 
achievements,  which  will  give  him  light  and  help  in  his  arduous 
work  ;  in  Greece,  which  answered  the  sphynx  by  pointing  to  man 
to  whom  it  assigned  as  ideal  the  ‘  gentleman,’  Kalokagathos ,  good 
and  beautiful ;  in  Rome,  utile  et  honestum ,  subduing  nature  and 
conquering  the  world,  bringing  it  under  one  law ;  in  Israel, 
taught  of  God,  founding  a  true  morality  based  on  duty  and  pre¬ 
paring  the  way  for  love. 

“  Here  we'see  the  Aryan  man  of  Europe  led  from  Greek  indi¬ 
vidualism  or  self-law,  to  Roman  universalism  or  social  law.  In 
Israel  he  discovers  a  nation  founded  on  the  will  of  God,  but  on 
the  verge  of  being  lost  in  a  degenerate  Roman  nationalism  to 
which  he  himself  is  about  to  fall  a  prey.  From  this  he  is  de¬ 
livered  by  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  solidarity  of  the  race  is  felt 
and  seen,  and  he  reaches  at  last  a  lofty  humanism  whose  destiny 


5 


is  the  realization  of  divine  love,  whose  earthly  ideal  is  humanity 
— man  in  the  image  of  God.” 

Extract  from  the  Report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Indian  Schools, 
October  10th,  1894.  By  W.  N.  Hailmann : 

“Moral  and  Religious  Training. — The  moral  and  relig¬ 
ious  training  in  Indian  Education,  as  in  all  other  education,  is 
of  paramount  importance.  It  gives  direction  and  permanence 
to  whatever  else  may  be  done  in  the  educational  work.  Unfor¬ 
tunately,  in  established  religions,  the  religious  spirit  has  been  so 
overlaid  with  matters  of  creed  and  ritual  that  it  has  become 
extremely  difficult  to  give  religious  instruction  and  training  in 
public  institutions  without  danger  of  offense  to  some  denomination 
that  may  consider  its  interests  neglected  or  its  doctrines  impugned. 

“Nevertheless,  it  seems  that  all  the  various  denominations 
and  sects  are  steadily  reaching  an  agreement  that  schools  may 
without  injury  to  any  one  of  these  sects  and  denominations,  and, 
indeed,  with  profit  to  them  all,  lead  the  children  through 
instruction  and  training  to  the  love  of  God  and  man,  and  that  this 
may  be  done  effectively  without  touching  upon  any  of  the  doc¬ 
trinal  points  that  separate  religious  people  into  competing  groups. 

“It  is  evident  that  in  these  matters  the  Indian  schools  cannot 
lead,  but  must  of  necessity  follow  public  opinion  and  profes¬ 
sional  practice  established  in  the  public  school  systems  of  the 
land.  It  is/  therefore,  earnestly  recommended  that  superin¬ 
tendents  and  teachers  place  themselves  in  sympathetic  relations 
with  the  religious  tendency  of  the  locality  in  which  they  labor, 
that  through  example,  instruction  and  simple  religious  practices 
in  the  schools  they  cultivate  in  the  children  reverence  and  good 
will.  Prayer,  if  prayer  is  in  their  hearts,  the  religious  song,  and 
the  simple  teachings  of  the  Bible  afford  abundant  material  for 
this.  Throughout,  however,  in  prayer,  song,  or  Bible  reading ; 
everything  should  be  avoided,  in  substance  and  form,  that  has 
in  any  way  a  proselyting  tendency. 

“Prayer,  song,  and  Bible  reading  should  be  wholly  free  from 
mystifying  allusions  and  sentiments,  but  rich  and  forceful  in  the 
simple  earnestness  with  which  they  lead  the  heart  to  God,  to 
virtue,  to  benevolence,  to  reverence,  to  self-abnegation,  and  to 
devotion.  Special  occasions  for  this  are  afforded  by  the  morn¬ 
ing  and  evening  exercises  and  by  Sunday  exercises  established 
in  accordance  with  paragraph  69  of  the  Indian  school  rules, 
which  prescribes  that — 

“‘Pupils  of  Government  schools  shall  be  encour¬ 
aged  to  attend  the  churches  and  Sunday-schools  of 
their  respective  denominations.  Pupils  who  cannot 
be  thus  accommodated  shall  be  assembled  during  some 
suitable  hour  for  religious  and  ethical  exercises  of  a 
strictly  undenominational  character.' 


6 


“The  moral  instruction  that  may  be  given  on  these  occasions 
will,  however,  bear  little  fruit  in  the  lives  of  the  children  unless 
there  is  established  at  the  same  time  in  the  school  life  as  a  whole 
a  moral  atmosphere  in  full  accord  with  these  moral  instructions. 
Ethical  lessons  must  be  emphasized  by  the  example  of  all  the 
older  members  of  the  school  household  in  corresponding  ethi¬ 
cal  conduct.  Their  life  practice  must  rest  clearly  upon  the 
precepts  of  these  lessons.  All  the  arrangements  of  the  school 
household,  in  dormitory,  dining-room,  schoolroom,  workshop, 
and  on  the  farm,  must  breathe  this  ethical  spirit  and  must  afford 
the  pupils  abundant  opportunities  to  act  in  accordance  with  the 
precepts. 

“  The  school  that  preaches  reverence,  gentleness  of  spirit  and 
generous  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  others  can  inculcate  these 
things  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  the  children  only  in  the  measure 
in  which  their  intercourse  with  each  other  and  with  the  children, 
the  superintendents,  teachers,  and  other  employes  of  the  school 
are  guided  by  these  principles  of  conduct. 

“To  one  who  is  himself  reverent,  gentle  of  spirit,  and  de¬ 
voted  to  the  welfare  of  others,  all  these  things  are  easy,  because 
to  him  they  are  natural.  But  to  one  who  is  himself  devoid  of 
these  qualities  they  are  impossible,  and  in  the  interest  of  the 
service  his  connection  therewith  ought  to  be  severed.” 

The  salutary  influence  of  Dr.  Hailmann’s  methods  as  applied 
to  the  education  of  the  Indian  youth  is  appreciated  by  the  em¬ 
ployees  in  the  Indian  School  Service. 

In  the  school-room  work  rapid  advances  have  been  made ; 
drawing,  modeling,  and  other  forms  of  primary  manual  training 
have  found  their  way  permanently  into  the  class-rooms.  In 
many  of  the  schools  a  close  connection  has  been  established 
between  the  industrial  and  the  literary  work,  and  the  former  has 
been  made  more  educative  in  its  character. 

Normal  Training  classes  have  been  established,  equipping 
many  pupils  for  teaching;  Kindergarten  successfully  introduced  ; 
forty  schools  now  doing  good  work. 

The  friends  of  the  Indian  who  annually  gather  at  “Lake 
Mohonk”  have  expressed  their  hearty  appreciation  of  Dr.  Hail¬ 
mann’s  administration  of  the  Indian  Schools. 

The  Board  of  Indian  Commissioners  of  the  United  States  in 
their  platform,  adopted  in  the  month  of  January,  1897,  say: — 

“The  work  of  Dr.  W.  N.  Hailmann,  superintendent  of  United 
States  Indian  Schools,  has  been  characterized  by  scholarly  and 
progressive  methods,  bringing  the  schools  up  to  a  high  degree 


7 


of  efficiency.  We  commend  Dr.  Hailmann  to  the  President¬ 
elect,  and  ask  that  he  be  retained  in  the  position  he  so  ably  fills.’ ’ 

.The  Indian  Rights  Association  extends  to  him  its  unqualified 
support,  and  believes  that  he  should  be  continued  in  the  good 
work  he  has  so  successfully  carried  on. 

No  sensible  person  will  dispute  that  a  purely  educational 
department  of  the  government  should  be  kept  entirely  free  from 
politics,  and  that  such  is  the  Indian  School  service.  No  well- 
founded  charge  is,  or  can  be,  brought  against  Dr.  Hailmann’s 
efficiency,  nor  is  it  claimed  that  he  has  used  his  office  otherwise 
than  for  the  good  of  the  service.  There  can  be  no  other  reason 
for  his  removal,  if  it  should  be  effected,  than  that  of  blind  par¬ 
tisanship.  If  it  is  accomplished,  the  administration  will  have 
committed  an  act  which  the  great  body  of  educated  people  in  the 
country  must  condemn,  when  they  become  acquainted  with  the 
facts,  for  that  act  will  be  done  in  violation  of  the  sound  princi¬ 
ples  which  should  govern  the  Indian  School  service — there  should 
be  no  removals  but  for  just  cause. 

The  Indian  Rights  Association  has,  in  various  publications, 
given  abundance  of  information  fully  supporting  the  claim  that 
Dr.  Hailmann  has  held  his  position  with  advantage  to  the  gov¬ 
ernment  and  great  credit  to  himself. 

The  following  resolutions,  adopted  at  a  meeting  of  the  friends 
of  Indian  and  negro  education,  held  at  Bar  Harbor,  Me.,  last 
summer,  and  the  signatures  attached  thereto,  show  how  Dr. 
Hailmann  is  regarded  by  many  prominent  educators  and  influ¬ 
ential  men  : 

Resolved ,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  meeting  that  Dr.  William  N.  Hail¬ 
mann  should  be  retained  as  Superintendent  of  Indian  Schools,  in  view  of  his 
well-tested  qualifications  and  thoroughly  just  and  efficient  administration  of 
the  office. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  this  resolution  be  respectfully  sent  to  the  Honor¬ 
able  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

Charles  C.  Harrison,  Provost  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

Daniel  C.  Gilman,  President  of  the  John  Hopkins  University. 

Seth  Low,  President  of  Columbia  College. 

W.  R.  Huntington,  Rector  of  Grace  Church,  New  York. 

William  Adams  Brown,  Professor  in  the  Union  Theological  Seminary, 
New  York. 

Charles  W.  Eliot,  President  of  Harvard  University. 

Charles  Kendall  Adams,  President  of  University  of  Wisconsin. 

Francis  G.  Peabody,  Professor  in  Flarvard  University. 

John  S.  Kennedy,  New  York. 

A.  F.  Schauffler,  New  York. 


8 


Parke  Godwin,  New  York. 

George  Harris,  Professor  in  Andover  Seminary. 

John  Sloane,  New  York. 

J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  New  York. 

Charles  Lanier,  New  York. 

W.  E.  Dodge,  New  York. 

William  Croswell  Doane,  Bishop  of  Albany. 

John  Graham  Brooks,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

G.  W.  Blatchford,  Chicago. 

W.  G.  Sumner,  Professor  in  Yale  University. 

\V.  N.  McVickar,  Bishop  of  Rhode  Island. 

J.  L.  M.  Curry,  Trustee  and  General  Manager  of  the  Peabody  and  of 
the  Slater  Education  Funds. 

William  Lawrence.  Bishop  of  Massachusetts. 

Booker  T.  Washington,  Principal  of  Tuskegee  Normal  and  Industrial 
Institute,  Tuskegee,  Ala. 

William  II.  Hare,  Bishop  of  South  Dakota. 

Agnes  Irwin,  Dean  of  Radcliff. 

James  B.  Thayer,  Professor  of  law  at  Harvard  University. 

John  Fiske,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Joseph  H.  Choate,  New  York. 

W.  S.  Rainsford,  Rector  of  St.  George’s  Church,  New  York. 

H.  C.  Potter,  Bishop  of  New  York. 

Not  only  have  prominent  educators  of  all  denominations  and 
representing  different  sections  of  the  country  asked  that  Dr. 
Hailmann  should  be  retained,  but  Archbishop  Ireland,  one  of 
the  most  patriotic  and  public-spirited  men  in  the  Roman  Catho¬ 
lic  Church,  has  written  the  following  letter  on  his  behalf  to  the 
President : 

“  St.  Paul,  February  io,  1898. 

“  To  His  Excellency ,  the  President  of  the  United  States : 

“  I  am  somewhat  familiar  with  the  record  of  Dr.  Hailmann, 
Superintendent  of  Indian  Schools,  and  I  take  pleasure  in. saying 
that  he  has  been  a  very  efficient  official  and  has  acquitted  him¬ 
self  of  the  duties  of  his  office  with  an  eye  solely  for  the  good  of 
his  wards,  without  prejudice  against,  or  bias  for,  any  particular 
interest. 

“The  Superintendent  of  Indian  Schools,  besides  being  an 
efficient  educator,  should  be  a  man  acceptable  to  the  different 
religious  agencies  working  among  the  Indians,  and  under  the 
the  latter  score  no  fault  can  be  found  with  Dr.  Hailmann. 

“Respectfully,  John  Ireland, 

“  Archbishop  of  St.  Paul.  ’  ’ 

Every  friend  of  the  Indian  who  has  not  already  done  so  should 
write  without  delay  to  the  President  and  the  Secretary  begging 
them  earnestly,  respectfully  to  retain  Dr.  Hailmann,  and  not  to 
commit  themselves  to  a  course  which  will  chill  the  sympathies 
and  weaken  the  support  of  their  best  friends. 


Just  as  this  pamphlet  issued  from  the  press,  word  was 
received  that  Dr.  Hailmann  had  been  removed  from  office. 
While  it  is  now  too  late  to  take  any  further  action  in  his  be¬ 
half,  we  believe  the  facts  stated  will  be  of  interest  to  our 
members  and  to  the  public. 

Attention  is  also  invited  to  the  following  editorial,  which 
appeared  in  City  and  State,  Philadelphia,  issue  of  June  16, 
1898 : 

The  “  Springfield  Republican  ”  says  editorially  in  a  recent 
issue : 

“  The  displacement  from  the  office  of  Superintendent  of  Indian  Schools 
of  Dr.  W.  N.  Hailmann,  whom  F.  E.  Leupp  calls  ‘  the  most  valuable  man 
who  ever  filled  it,’  is  a  discredit  to  the  Interior  Department  and  to  the 
administration.  Fortunately,  the  harm  done  promises  to  be  reduced  by  the 
choice  of  Miss  Estelle  Reel,  late  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  in 
Wyoming,  who  indorsed  Dr.  Hailmann’s  work  and  did  not  desire  to  be  a 
candidate  for  his  place  if  he  could  be  kept.  There  is  promise  that  she  will 
do  good  work.  The  overthrow  of  Dr.  Hailmann  was  brought  about  by 
political  timeservers,  and  was  against  the  earnest  protest  of  disinterested 
friends  of  Indian  education.” 

During  a  long  acquaintance  with  efforts  for  the  elevation  of 
the  Indian  Service,  and  thereby  for  the  civilization  of  the 
Indians,  we  have  had  few  keener  disappointments  than  the 
removal  of  Dr.  Hailmann  from  the  place  which  he  had  for  four 
years  so  ably  filled.  The  action  of  President  McKinley  and 
Secretary  Bliss  in  effecting  this  change  will  inflict  a  similar 
disappointment  on  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  friends  of 
the  Indians,  and  will  prompt  the  inquiry,  When  may  we 
expect  the  full  adoption  of  the  merit  idea  in  the  Indian  Ser¬ 
vice,  and  especially  in  that  branch  of  it  which  controls  the 
schools?  No  just  reason  can  be  alleged  for  this  change. 
Many  of  the  most  eminent  educators  in  the  country  had  peti¬ 
tioned  for  Dr.  Hailmann’s  retention.  It  was  unquestionably 
the  result  of  the  expressed  belief  of  Mr.  Bliss  that  it  would 
be  “  a  strange  thing  if,  admitting  Dr.  Hailmann’s  good  qual¬ 
ities,  an  equally  good  official  could  not  be  found  within  the 
ranks  of  the  Republican  Party.”  That  proposition  we  do  not 
deny.  What  we  do  assert  is  that  to  make  a  search  for  the 
incumbent  of  such  a  position  within  the  ranks  of  any  party  is 
a  wrong  way  in  which  to  fill  the  place.  It  is  a  paitizan  instead 
of  a  professional  and  educational  way  of  making  the  choice. 
We  hope  that  Dr.  Hailmann’s  successor,  Miss  Estelle  Reel, 
will  receive  from  her  superiors  the  generous  support  which 
was  denied  to  him,  and  that  in  the  event  of  any  other  politi¬ 
cal  party  coming  into  power  during  her  incumbency  her 
services  will  be  judged  according  to  their  merits,  and  that 
she  may  not  be  dismissed  because  a  Republican  administra¬ 
tion  gave  her  appointment.  That  is  the  Spanish  way  of  doing 
things,  but  it  ought  to  be  the  American  way  no  longer.  It  is 
a  way  which  we  trust  will  go  out  when  the  Spanish  flag  leaves 
the  Western  hemisphere. 


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